JOANNA COURTNEY

Joanna Courtney read English at Cambridge University where she first discovered a passion for history, specialising in medieval literature. She continued to write through her first years of work and then, married and living in Derbyshire, in the sparse hours available between raising two stepchildren and two more of her own.

Writing as Joanna Barnden she has flourished in shorter fiction, having over 150 stories and serials published in women’s magazines reaching more than 1,700,000 readers. She also teaches creative writing across the country and for the Open University, has had her short stories broadcast on BBC radio and won prizes, and has written and directed several award-winning plays.

Joanna’s Queens of the Conquest trilogy – which tells the story of 1066 from the points of view of three queens - was acquired at auction by Pan Macmillan.

Follow Joanna Courtney on Twitter @joannacourtney1 or find her on Facebook at joannacourtneyauthor.

LATEST BOOK: THE CONQUEROR'S QUEEN, third in THE QUEENS OF THE CONQUEST trilogy.

A crown can be won, blood cannot be changed.

Mathilda of Flanders is furious at her father's choice of husband for her. William of Normandy has a reputation as a rough warrior but after a violent start to their courtship Mathilda discovers him to be a man of unexpected sensitivity, driven by two goals: to win her heart and to win her a throne.

Astoundingly the throne seems to come first, for King Edward of England invites the newlyweds to Westminster and declares William his heir. But with the passing of time, this secretive promise is soon forgotten . . . though not by William. Or Mathilda.

As events either side of the Narrow Sea reach crisis point, Mathilda has to decide what she wants: heart or throne? How deep does her ambition run and what is she prepared to sacrifice to succeed?